Announcement of Childcare Costs for Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Supported Individual Fellows

March 2, 2021

As part of our on-going efforts to develop programs which support family-friendly research environments for the NIH-supported workforce, NIH will begin providing an option for NRSA fellows to request support for childcare costs in new and continuation applications or as administrative supplements to existing awards effective April 8, 2021. The NRSA childcare costs apply to full-time NIH-NRSA supported fellowship positions. Each fellow is eligible to receive $2,500 per budget period to defray childcare costs. The NRSA childcare costs are not tied to any payback obligations.

Extensions for Early Career Scientists Whose Career Trajectories Have Been Significantly Impacted by COVID-19

February 8, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with extensive mitigation measures, has adversely affected progress in many biomedical research settings. Evidence from multiple sources, including a survey NIH issued to its supported extramural research workforce last fall, indicates legitimate concerns about career trajectory for early career scientists, including those with caretaker responsibilities. An article by Dr. Erin Gibson and her colleagues argued for a “reset” with focus on early career investigators. One point I took away from this paper is that a reset does not necessarily mean for us to go “back to normal” after the pandemic is over, because that time may have favored certain investigators and disfavored others (something I reflected on in this video and this blog).

Hearing your concerns, NIH issued a Guide Notice last week detailing our approach to support early career scientists whose career trajectories may have been significantly affected by the pandemic as funding will allow). Specifically, NIH is providing an opportunity for recipients in their last year of NIH Fellowship (“F”) and NIH Career Development (“K”) awards who have been impacted by COVID-19 to request extensions. Such extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, within the existing constraints of available funding. We encourage you to read the Guide Notice and if appropriate reach out to NIH staff as directed.

Important Reminders for Fellowship and Career Development Applicants

January 6, 2020

Planning to apply for a fellowship or career development award? If so, don’t forget your ORCID iD. We encourage everybody from graduate students to senior scientists to register for an ORCID account and link it to their eRA Commons personal profile. But for some grant applicants, it’s an absolute must. ORCID iDs are required for PD/PIs on individual fellowship and career development applications submitted for due dates on or after January 25, 2020.

New “All About Grants” Podcast on Writing a Fellowship Application

June 28, 2019

Individual fellowship (F) awards provide research training opportunities to trainees at the predoctoral, graduate, and postdoctoral levels. Listen to this next installment of the NIH’s All About Grants podcast series, to hear NIH’s Research Training Policy Officer discusses the F application process, sharing tips and best practices for developing a strong application.

The Roles of Fellows and Trainees in NIH Supported Clinical Trials

October 12, 2018

NIH encourages fellows supported on NIH NRSA Fellowship awards and trainees supported on NIH NRSA Training awards to receive training in clinical research, including in the conduct of clinical trials. Under a mentor’s guidance, fellows and trainees can gain experience in the wide variety of research skills specific to clinical trials including, but not limited to: developing a clinical trial protocol; applying the principles of informed consent and requirements for human subjects research; learning about random assignment of participants to different intervention arms; analyzing trial endpoints; and/or implementing quality control standards.